Zep moves like someone who was never meant to stay still. Born in a quiet Dutch village, sharpened in Rotterdam’s underground rave scene, and now orbiting between New York, Los Angeles and his birthplace, the 26-year-old musician carries the restless urgency of someone always on the verge of the next thing. His music, a versatile blend of live drums, gritty vocals, and echoes of metal, jazz, and punk, refuses to be boxed in. It’s raw, restless, and alive.

“I made it out of the smallest village of the Netherlands all the way to LA,” he says with a mix of disbelief and defiance. That leap, from DIY raves in Rotterdam warehouses to studios in California, captures the duality of Zep’s world. If there’s a throughline in Zep’s story, it’s community. He learned from a young age how to throw his own parties, how to create not just music but atmosphere, a space people wanted to belong to. And that instinct remains at the center of his artistry. Even now, as he steps onto international stages, he carries the ethos of those early raves. He calls his live shows “insane,” but there’s something almost spiritual in the way he describes them; energy shared, passed back and forth until it becomes something larger than a concert.

Yet, Zep resists being pinned down. He isn’t chasing trends so much as testing boundaries, determined to make music that feels both global and personal. “I might drop a jazz album, I might do something with a classical orchestra,” he shrugs. What matters is connection, that his songs feel human, immediate, and real, whether you’re alone in your car or raging in a moshpit in Paris.

For Zep, every project is a timestamp, a snapshot of where he is in life. Despite striving for quality, there’s no obsession with perfection, but more an urgency to capture the moment. “Drop that shit and move on,” he says. “It’s your evolution.” It’s this philosophy that keeps him in motion, writing on tour buses, absorbing the chaos of cities, feeding on nightlife until it becomes sound.

Dylan: You come to New York a bit, right?

Zep: Yeah, often. I’m moving to LA.

Dylan: I heard.

Zep: In two weeks, bro.

Dylan: Crazy. How does Rotterdam compare to New York? What’s the difference?

Zep: New York and Rotterdam are really close to each other. All the people are super unique. So many different cultures and the raves are the fucking craziest. And there’s an actual community in Rotterdam, same with here in New York.

Dylan: What about the nightlife?

Zep: So sick. That’s where I grew up. I grew up in Rotterdam throwing parties, throwing raves. That’s where I started doing all the break music into the club and then live with drums and shit.

Dylan: Okay, so the party scene kind of shaped you.

Zep: Yeah. Yeah, a hundred percent. And especially if you learn how to throw your own parties and then basically do it all over the world. But throwing the raves, and getting the hype like that in a live setting, bro, it’s fucking insane. Rotterdam is really the city for it.

Dylan: Why’d you pick LA over New York?

Zep: So New York is where I’m going to come forever just to create, hang out and do all this shit. But all my favorite artists are in LA. Trying to work, my whole team is going to be in LA so it’s like I got to be there. I got to surround myself there. Yeah, bro. I made it out of the smallest village of Netherlands all the way to LA. I’m fucking excited.

Dylan: Do you think moving to the States will affect the way you make music?

Zep: Yes. I’ve been always trying weird shit in the music, but right now I’m about to make big songs and push the boundaries in big songs where a lot of people are going to understand and feel the push in the boundary. Normally I just used to make beats, but now I’m implementing my vocals and the vocals like the most relatable sound. Everyone knows the vocals. And I’m a drummer. Everyone knows the vocals and the drums. I’m about to make songs and try to reach more people, but still push the boundary. So that’s what this country pushes me to do because it’s so fucking big. I need to reach everyone.

Dylan: Now that you do vocals, how do you start making a track?

Zep: So I’m a producer originally, so I just always start with audio, music whatever vibe there is. I create a vibe and then whatever word comes into my mind, whatever sound, whatever feeling I write on the road while I’m on tour. Always. I write all my shit on tour.

Dylan: Okay, so if you’re at your home, you’re not writing?

Zep: Nah, to finalize the lyrics, no. I need to live, I need to go to shows, I need to go to parties, I need to see my friends. So I’m always trying to be on the way and write some shit that I really fuck with.

Dylan: Is there a big difference between the music industry here and then in Europe?

Zep: Yeah, bro. Here sky’s the limit man. And basically in Europe and the Netherlands we sometimes tend to follow what’s happening in America. So we have a Dutch Sabrina Carpenter, we have a Dutch fucking Chris Brown.

Dylan: But they’re never going to be as big.

Zep: No, because they are following.

Dylan: Are there cultural differences that you’re worried about in moving here?

Zep: I mean, I’m reading a lot of books and watching a lot of series right now just to make sure I know I have an understanding. Because I already do but right here I’m in the middle of it. I don’t think there’s a big difference but I never want to lose my raw grittiness that I got in Europe, you know, especially in Berlin and Rotterdam from the raves. Bro, the smallest village where I’m from, that’s where everything started and that’s how I felt the most comfortable. So that’s something I never want to lose in my sound.

Dylan: What are you listening to at the moment?

Zep: I’ve been listening to a lot of David Bowie. Yeah, so David Bowie and the Blackstar album is fucking sick. I got Paris Texas on repeat. I fucking really love these guys. Jean Dawson I’m listening a lot to. Tierra Whack is really dope.

Dylan: What about the early stages? What do you think shaped your music that you were listening to?

Zep: I grew up with Limp Bizkit. My dad was in a metal rock band, so he was playing all over the country. He played some pretty punk rock spaces, which was pretty cool. I grew up with a lot of rock and metal, but then I went to fucking jazz school or music school where I touched base with a lot of jazz and fusion and all these different musical cultures also growing up in Rotterdam, you know. That’s really how I would describe my sound. You feel the grittiness. That’s how I grew up literally. But then I got taught music. They taught me music and I’m skilled enough, like I said, to push the boundaries musically, but still have the gritty feeling to make it feel organic, so that’s really what I’m trying to do.

Dylan: Was there a moment where you thought ‘this could be more than a hobby’ or was it always the goal to take it this far?

Zep: Always, bro. Since I saw my dad killing stages. But at an early age I played those stages myself and I was like, ‘this is what I’m going to do forever.’ And still, I just came back from 80 shows in the last two years. I can’t wait to get back on tour again. But seeing the people, seeing them go crazy on my shit, especially with the drums and the vocals right now, it’s a fucking dream coming true, man.

Dylan: What do you hope people feel or leave with after listening to your music?

Zep: I want them to come to the live show, bro. I want them to rage in the car. I want them to rage when they’re sitting on the couch, but still feel something. That’s what I’m trying to push. We can’t rage without a feeling. That’s what I’m trying to do. So in the next project you really hear the rage shit for my live show, but there will be a second intention where it’s feelings and struggles and it all comes together in the mosh pit.

Dylan: If you weren’t making music, what do you think you’d be doing?

Zep: I would throw raves. Yeah, bro. Let people come together. Use music as a fucking tool because that’s what it is. It brings people together. You feel affiliated with whatever genre or whatever style people are wearing. It’s the fucking most beautiful thing of togetherness right now that we need. I really stand for that shit. Even if I wouldn’t be able to make music or be an artist…

Dylan: You’d still be in that world and in that space. It’s just inside you, man.

Zep: I love doing it, bro. I think because the first moment when I saw it happening as a kid, I just couldn’t get away from it. Ever.

Dylan: What city’s given you your most memorable live performance so far?

Zep: Paris, Milan and London. Those three, the first fucking song, it was like a fucking zoo. Everyone was jumping over each other and going fucking crazy. And I mean, the fact that that’s the energy that I bring out of people without even having big songs right now is fucking insane. It’s just sharing energy.

Dylan: Have you seen that same response in the States?

Zep: Yeah, definitely. Brooklyn, Babies All Right. It’s fucking nuts. But the same for in LA. It’s an early stage in my career and right now all the new music is ready to go crazy here.

Dylan: How do you know when a song is finished?

Zep: It’s never finished. Well, I know to publish it when it’s my time to move on and then I accept my time of being in that moment and then I move on. No, it’s just a timestamp of where you’re at in life. And that’s what I want to tell all the artists man, drop that shit and move on. And if you really hate it, drop a new version. But it’s like, it’s your career, it’s your evolution. So it’s like just create, I call it timestamps. All my projects are timestamps. It just stands for what it is and that’s what I love about Instagram and all the social media shit. Just throw it out there and don’t give a fuck.

Dylan: Do you have any superstitions when it comes to performing?

Zep: I just get on stage and when I get back, I just continue my life. I feel so myself on stage. I can be whatever I want. I can say whatever I want, do whatever I want. I have a lot of freedom in my set. So no, there’s not really a ritual, but I do love when all my homies and everyone is around me, sharing the moment with the people who worked hard on your project. So when my team is there, when all my friends are there, it’s a fucking party. I really love it. Sometimes you get lonely on the road, but still I get the best team around me and the best fans.

Dylan: If you say you feel most alive and free on stage, when you’re not on stage do you ever feel like you’re kind of chasing that feeling?

Zep: Yeah, it is a high. It is a high but I’m never craving it. I’m just happy when it happens, but when it’s not, I can still have my output online or wherever it is. Yeah, definitely. I mean, we do schedule the shows out where it’s a nice combination. It will never tire me out, but I’m happy to get in the fucking tour bus, bro. Always.